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Tearfund, a major Christian relief and development charity, recently commissioned a survey on prayer. Over 2000 adults took part in the survey which revealed that more than 50% of people in Britain pray. One in three people pray regularly at a place of worship. Many people also pray as they go about their daily activities in the home, as they travel and exercise, and before they go to sleep.

People pray to thank God and to ask him to bless their family and friends, especially in times of illness. More women (56%) pray than men (46%) and even some who would describe themselves as “non-religious” pray in times of crisis and desperation. Previous surveys revealed that more teenagers and people in their early 20s are likely to pray than their parents’ generation. Younger people tend to be more conscious of the needs of others and often pray for peace in the world and for an end to poverty.

Jesus’ disciples once asked him to teach them to pray and he taught them what we call The Lord’s Prayer; “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

This is a wonderful example of how to pray. Our prayers don’t need to be long or complex as if we need to impress God with fine words. The Lord’s Prayer is so simple a young child can say it. When we pray we focus our thoughts on the one true, living God, the creator of all things. We are small and vulnerable but he is almighty and gracious. His name is holy, and he is worthy to be praised. Wherever his kingdom comes on earth there is a foretaste of heavenly joy and peace.

We can ask him for our daily food and to forgive us for the wrong things we say, think and do every day. All of us need his protection in the face of the temptations to sin and many evil influences that are all around us. And, amazingly, Jesus taught us that we can know God, in an intimate way, not as some remote, impersonal power, but as our heavenly Father who knows us and loves us!

Cyrille Regis, who has died at the age of 59, was a great footballer. Those who knew him have spoken warmly of Cyrille and their sense of loss at his passing. One of his former managers said, “Cyrille was not only the best centre-forward I ever worked with, he was an even better bloke.” Cyrille’s pace, strength and power thrilled the crowds. He scored some spectacular goals that are still remembered today. He was also an inspiration to subsequent generations of black British footballers as he, and other black players, faced blatant and shameful racism from opposing fans with great dignity.

Cyrille was born in French Guiana, but moved to Britain when he was 5 and grew up in West London. When he was 19 he was spotted playing non-league football and signed up by First Division Club West Bromwich Albion. There he played with other talented black players, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson. Cyrille won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 1978 and played for England at both Under-21 and Senior levels. In 1987, he won an FA Cup winners’ medal with Coventry and was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2008.

In 1989 Cyrille’s best friend and former team-mate, Laurie Cunningham, died in a car crash. This tragedy had a devastating impact on Cyrille as, just two years earlier, he and Laurie had been in a car accident which they had survived. As he was growing up, Cyrille had been taught Christian values, but as an adult he had turned away from them. Laurie’s death left him asking questions such as: Is there really life after death? Where is God in all of this? Why did this happen? Cyrille’s search for answers ultimately lead him to what he described as “a real encounter with Jesus”. This encounter changed his life forever when he received Jesus as his Saviour.

As a born-again Christian Cyrille was passionate about sharing his story with others who were also searching for answers. He said, “I meet people all the time, some famous, some not, who are all looking for hope and peace. I have learned that money cannot buy peace of mind so I simply tell people how I found hope and peace in God. The great thing about it is that anyone can have the peace that I have, you just need to know God.” Now Cyrille is with his Saviour in heaven, and will be with him forever, because Jesus loved him and gave himself for him.

Little Charlie Gard is unaware of the international media attention surrounding him and his parents. Connie and Chris are fighting to get permission to take Charlie to the USA to undergo experimental treatment that might possibly save his life. Charlie was born on 4 August 2016 and suffers from a rare genetic condition known as mitochondrial DNA depletion. The excellent medical team at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children have provided wonderful treatment and care for Charlie, but can do no more. They believe the time has come to withdraw treatment from Charlie and provide palliative care only. Connie and Chris have challenged this decision in the highest courts in Britain and Europe which, so far, have all supported the hospital’s view.

A parent’s love is a powerful thing. It nurtures, guides, protects, forgives. It is unconditional and can sometimes save your life. This love is seen in the passionate commitment of Connie and Chris to pursue any course of action that gives Charlie a chance to live. Connie has said, “He’s our son, he’s our flesh and blood. There is nothing to lose, he deserves a chance. If he is still fighting, we are still fighting. We’re not doing this for us. He’s our son. We want what’s best for him.”

In 2014, Ashya King’s parents provoked an international manhunt when they took their 5-year-old son from hospital in Southampton without the doctor’s consent. They wanted to take him to Prague to receive proton beam therapy which was unproven but, they believed, might save his life. Ashya was eventually treated in Prague and three years later he is well, happy and back in school. He has regular check-ups to monitor his health.

J. C Ryle, the first Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, wrote, “The nurse in the hospital may do her work properly and well, may give the sick patient his medicine at the right time, may feed him, care for him and attend to all his needs. But there is a difference between that nurse and a mother watching over a dying child. The one acts from a sense of duty; the other from affection and love. The one does her duty because she is paid for it; the other is what she is because of her heart.” The passionate love of a mother for her child reminds us of the even more amazing love of God who “so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

What do we do when bad things happen? A dear friend of ours recently had surgery for cancer. This is not the first time she has had to undergo surgery and now the disease has returned. Since she was first diagnosed and treated she has had regular check-ups and the latest tests revealed the need for further surgery. She and her husband and young daughter know it is a serious situation. How have they responded to this difficult situation? The words of a simple Christian chorus help us to understand how they have responded to this “bad thing” that is happening to them and how we, too, can face similar situations.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Most of us are caught up in the busyness of life. There’s no time to stop and think. When we know we have a serious illness, it is a time to be still. The world rushes on, but we withdraw to quietly reflect on our situation. From her childhood, growing up in Eastern Europe, our friend has known God. She knows that it was God who knit her together in her mother’s womb and that he ordained all the days of her life before one of them came to be. She is in the gracious and loving hands of her heavenly Father just as much now as she was before the disease returned.

“I am the Lord who healeth thee.” Our friend is very thankful for the skill and dedication of the medical teams and for all they have done and are doing. Like them, she knows that there are mysteries in the treatment of serious diseases. Even though patients are given the same treatment, the outcomes may be different. She knows that it is the Lord who heals all our diseases. She has experienced his gracious healing in the past and knows he can do it again.

“In thee, O Lord, I put my trust.” Most of us like to be in control of our lives and feel disorientated when things happen that are too big for us to handle. Our friend has quietly and confidently put her trust in Jesus, her Lord and Saviour. She does not know what the future holds, but she knows that there is nothing in all creation that is able to separate her from God’s love for her in Jesus. So, she is consciously trusting in her Lord to give her sufficient courage so that now, as always, he will be exalted in her life.

Last week someone broke into a small valley church in Abersychan in South Wales. They stole £60 in cash that had been collected by the Mother and Toddlers’ group to provide toys, books, biscuits, drinks and snacks for the children. There were also plans to hold a Christmas party. When people in the community heard what had happened there was a wonderful response. A local councillor set up a crowdfund page inviting people to raise £200 to replace the money that had been stolen and to repair the damage to the church building. He wrote, “Ove the past few years, Noddfa, under the direction of Pastor John, has worked hard within the community to help the youth and residents. Please help to replace their loss to show what a caring community we are.” So far nearly £800 has been donated!

On his Facebook, Pastor John thanked the people for their generous support of the church. He said, “As a church we love everyone in our valley just as Christ loved us. We long for opportunities to show this love by sacrificially giving and supporting the community we have been called by God to serve.” He expressed grief that someone was so desperate at Christmas time to risk so much for such a small amount adding, “If they had simply come to see us, we would have rallied around them and supported as best we could. If they are reading this, we have a number of events going on over Christmas and they are most welcome to come and join us to find out more about a love that they will not receive anywhere else, a love that can forgive and forget.”

This story wonderfully illustrates the great themes of the Christmas message. Christmas is about forgiveness. Whether we attend a church or not, we all break God’s commands and need to experience God’s forgiveness. Before Jesus was born Joseph was told that Mary would give birth to a son and that he was to give him the name Jesus because “he will save his people from their sins.” Each of us needs a Saviour and through Jesus all our sins can be forgiven.

Christmas is also about giving. At Christmas we remember the amazing gift God gave to the people of the world – his beloved Son. In John’s Gospel we read, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

On 22 May this year Jaquie Farmer married Andy Goncher in a church service in Marietta, Georgia. It was a very special day for Jaquie and her family and friends as she walked down the aisle. In July 2008, when Jaquie was 17 years old, she dived into her friend’s swimming pool and broke her neck. She said, “I remember floating face down, unable to move and thinking I was going to drown. I could hear the girls laughing, thinking I was just joking or something. When I was finally pulled out of the pool and knew my mom was being called to come and get me, my body blacked out.”

In the hospital, Jaquie could feel all her limbs, but couldn’t move them. She asked her mother, “Am I going to be in a wheelchair forever?” Holding back tears, her mother said, “If God wants you to walk, you’ll walk.” Jaquie says that at that moment her faith kicked in and she was determined to be “normal” again. Her first glimmer of progress came when, to her doctor’s surprise, she was able to move her big toe. Jaquie spent hundreds of hours in physiotherapy, and on her own in the gym, working to regain the ability to stand. Her dream was to walk down the aisle on her wedding day.

Looking at the photos of her wedding day brings tears to Jaquie’s eyes. She said, “It’s so easy to forget how miraculous it is that I can walk now, since it’s a journey I’ve been going through for 8 years. When people react with such emotion and awe, it reminds me just how blessed I am. Andy and I have now been married for 3 months. I’m so thankful for his servant’s heart and willingness to put in the work that a good marriage takes. I’ve learned so much from him in the past 3 years and I can’t wait to continue to grow together in God and in love.”

We are all liable to life-changing accidents and illnesses. When tragic events happen to us, or to those we love, it is so important to turn to God. God has sustained Jaquie through dark and difficult days. She has experienced his love in Jesus in a new way. She knows that Jesus is always with her and that there is nothing that can ever separate her from his love. As they share the joys and sorrows of married life, Jaquie and Andy are looking forward to knowing God’s love for them more and more.

Emersyn Faith Baker is a 15-month old little girl living in Sanford, Florida. She is her mother and father’s third child and has Down’s syndrome. One in every 1000 babies has Down’s syndrome. There are about 40,000 people living in Britain who have Down’s syndrome. Usually it is not an inherited condition. People with Down’s syndrome have an extra chromosome. The reason for this is not known, but it happens at the time of conception. Older mothers are more at risk of having a baby with Down’s syndrome, but most Down’s babies are born to mothers under the age of 35. Down’s babies are born to all kinds of people all over the world.

When Emersyn’s mother, Courtney, was told the baby she was carrying had Down’s syndrome the doctor advised her to terminate the pregnancy because having the baby would “lower her quality of life.” Courtney decided to continue with the pregnancy. Emersyn has brought great joy and delight to all the family and to those around her.

Courtney has recently written to the doctor. She wrote, “Emersyn has not only added to our quality of life, she’s touched the hearts of thousands. She’s given us a purpose and a joy that is impossible to express. She’s given us bigger smiles, more laughter and sweeter kisses than we’ve ever known. She’s opened our eyes to true beauty and pure love.”

Every human being is created by God and is of equal value in his sight. In Psalm 139 David wrote, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

In 1989 I had the privilege of baptising David, a young Down’s man. David came to our church with his mother and two sisters. He loved coming to church and reading the Bible. He came to understand that God loved him and that Jesus had died on the cross for his sins. David loves Jesus as his Saviour and professed his faith in baptism. As he came up out of the baptistry David gave a double thumbs up sign to show his joy at knowing God’s love in Jesus.

The terrorist atrocities in Paris have left 129 people dead and more than 350 injured, some critically. The 7 suicide bombers all died after they had attacked restaurants, cafes, bars, a rock concert and the Stade de France. The 3 groups of terrorists used bombs and Kalashnikov assault rifles in a way not seen before on the streets of Western Europe. The attacks have left the French people traumatised and other nations fearing that similar attacks may also come to their streets. Our hearts go out to those who have so tragically lost loved ones.

It is not possible to make sense of the events of this life without reference to God and eternity. Some people believe that this life is the only life there is, but this leaves big questions unanswered. The Bible tells us that we are created in the image of God and have both a body and a soul, that can never die. We also have a conscience by which we know the difference between right and wrong. So we know that doing what is right matters and that we are all accountable to God for the things we do.

The sacredness of every human life and the evil of wilfully killing human beings is something we all affirm because of who we are. We are created in God’s image. Tragically it seems that some people are being deceived into believing that committing terrorist acts and killing yourself with a bomb takes you to a reward in paradise. But we know that cannot be true. Sinful actions cannot be rewarded and no-one can escape the eternal consequences of their actions by taking their own life.

The events in Paris also remind us of the fragility of our lives. People who set out on Friday evening to relax with friends over a meal died in a way they could not possibly have anticipated. We all need to find refuge in God and to know that, whatever happens, there is nothing that can separate us from his love in Jesus. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to persecuted Christians living in Rome, some of whom would die for their faith in Jesus. He told them, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The sight of millions of people marching through the streets of Paris was deeply moving. Men, women and children were there. Most were French, but people from other nations joined them, including 50 heads of states. Many were secularists or Christians and some were Muslims. They were united in their horror at last week’s bloodshed on the streets of Paris in which French Islamic terrorists killed 17 people including journalists, cartoonists, shoppers and police officers. The marchers were expressing their identification with those who died and their families in their grief. The marchers were determined to affirm the founding values of the French Republic: liberty, equality and fraternity. After a minute of silence many chanted over and over, “We are not afraid!”

The marches expressed the unity of the human race that underlies our superficial differences. Some events are so significant that they bring people together in an expression of our common humanity. The graphic images of gunmen killing defenceless people mobilised a united opposition to such subhuman barbarism. Because of the way God has created us we must reject evil in all its forms and affirm the preciousness of every human being. We have a responsibility of care for one another, even those who are strangers, and are commanded to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

Now the march is over, however, and people have returned to their daily lives there is a heightened sense of anxiety and vulnerability. There will be more terrorist incidents because some people in our world are committed to using violence in order to achieve their ends. These problems will be with us for many years. How are we to respond?

We can be sure that justice will be done because God judges all people in righteousness. All of us must one day stand before his judgement throne. When we die we pass into his holy presence. Those who committed the terrorist atrocities in Paris have already been called to account by the living God who does what is right.

We can also find personal peace and security in an uncertain world through experiencing God’s love in Jesus. In the letter to the Romans the apostle Paul wrote, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We live in troubled times. Natural disasters devastate both poor and affluent nations. Many people are dying in wars and conflicts. Long term economic problems continue. Unemployment, especially amongst the young, and tensions between different ethnic groups are creating serious social instability. There is not much talk of hope for the future in our secular society, in which many have turned their backs on God.

The New Testament, however, provides both realistic insights into the course of world history and solid grounds for hope. Jesus spoke about the signs of the end of the age. He told his disciples, “You will hear of wars and rumours of wars. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” He also told them they would suffer personally, “You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.”

The apostle Paul wrote, “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power.” Such things have been seen many times in history, but are also very evident today.

So if things are so bad, where is real hope to be found? Real hope is found only in God. Paul wrote a letter to Christians living in Rome. They were already being persecuted and things would soon get much worse. Some were crucified, some were set on fire, and others, including women and children, faced wild animals in the Roman arenas. Paul, who was himself soon to be martyred, wrote, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The living God is “the God of hope.” He created the world and is also the Lord of history. Jesus is “the First and the Last.” Whatever may happen in the world, or in our personal lives, we can put our trust in him. When we do, he fills us with “all joy and peace” and makes us “overflow with hope.” Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love in Jesus.